Software sensor design considering oscillating conditions as present in industrial scale fed-batch cultivations.

Investigations of inhomogeneous dynamics in industrial-scale bioreactors can be realized in laboratory simulators. Such studies will be improved by on line observation of the growth of microorganisms and their product synthesis at oscillating substrate availability which represents the conditions in industrial-scale fed-batch cultivations. A method for the kinetic monitoring of such processes, supported by on line measurements accessible in industrial practice, is proposed. It consists of a software sensor (SS) system composed of a cascade structure. Process kinetics are simulated in models with a structure including time-varying yield coefficients. SSs for measured variable kinetics have classical structures. The SS design of unmeasured variables is realized after a linear transformation using a logarithmic function. For these software sensors, a tuning procedure is proposed, at which an arbitrary choice of one tuning parameter value that guarantees stability of the monitoring system allows the calculation of the optimal values of six parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed monitoring approach is demonstrated with experimental data from a glucose-limited fed-batch process of Bacillus subtilis in a laboratory two-compartment scale down reactor which tries to mimic the conditions present in industrial scale nutrient-limited fed-batch cultivations.

The diversity of antibacterial compounds of Terminalia species (Combretaceae).

The antibacterial activity of acetone, hexane, dichloromethane leaf extract of five Terminalia species (Terminalia alata Heyne ex Roth., Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wt. and Am., Terminalia bellerica (Gaertn.) Roxb., Terminalia catappa L. and Terminalia chebula Retz.) were tested by Agar-well-diffusion method against human pathogens E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The Rf values and relative activities of separated compounds were tested. Hexane and dichloromethane extracts have shown more antibacterial components than the acetone extract indicating the non-polar character of the antibacterial compounds. The non-polar character of the antibacterial compounds was confirmed from the Rf values. It indicated that the antibacterial activity was not due to tannins. Terminalia catappa found to possess the compounds which are more antibacterial. Terminalia arjuna and T. catappa plants were found most promising for isolating antibacterial compounds.